History at the Diversity Fair

Delaware County Historical Society Volunteer Kit Gordon shows Dempsey Middle School students a blanket beater, which would have been used decades ago to beat dust out of blankets or rugs. The Historical Society had one of the more popular booths, which gave students the opportunity to grind corn and try their hand at old games kids played back in the day.

Delaware County Historical Society Volunteer Kit Gordon shows Dempsey Middle School students a blanket beater, which would have been used decades ago to beat dust out of blankets or rugs. The Historical Society had one of the more popular booths, which gave students the opportunity to grind corn and try their hand at old games kids played back in the day. Glenn Battishill | The Gazette

Seventh-grader Kendra Curry signs her name on a display in the shape of the French flag done by French Club students. Glenn Battishill | The Gazette

Dempsey Middle School held its second annual Diversity Fair Thursday. The
event featured presentations from community organizations and student clubs.

“(The goal) is to kind of introduce students to different cultures,” said
Nowlin, who hopes the exposure makes students “more empathetic and accepting”
of people from other cultures and countries.

Nowlin operated a table where students had to write down how people can be
more accepting and why that’s important. She added acceptance, tolerance, and
respect are three big themes at Dempsey.

Students were given passports at the start of the event and could go to any
table they liked to get their passport stamped, up to 12 times.

One of the most popular tables was operated by the Dempsey Spanish Club,
which gave its visitors a taste of a Mexican soda.

“We want them to understand different cultures,” said Chase Alexander, an
eighth-grader in Spanish Club.

Another popular table belonged to the Delaware
County Historical Society, which featured a variety of activities for
students.

Kit Gordon, a volunteer for the historical society, explained different tools
and utensils that would have been used by people hundreds of years ago. She
added students were given the opportunity to see what it was like to grind
corn.

The historical society also had a ring-and-pin game that was played by
children hundreds of years ago. Many students tried their hand at the game
during the event.

“I’m not good at anything they played,” said Amanda Booth, a seventh-grader.

Anna Lance, also a seventh-grader, said she enjoyed the Diversity Fair and the historical society’s demonstration. “I liked that we got to learn about other cultures and the world,” she said.

Community Refugee & Immigration Services (CRIS) Community Engagement
Specialist Sarah Huffman displayed a number of flags on her table at the fair
and played a game with students to identify the flags. Huffman said CRIS is one
of two refugee and immigration services in Columbus, and she was focused on
teaching students about immigration and refugees, while clearing up
misunderstandings.

“It’s really important to learn about refugees and immigrants to combat
anti-refugee sentiment,” Huffman said. “The United States was found on the
principal that immigrants are welcome here.”

Levi Collins, a seventh-grader, said he enjoyed learning about different
things during the fair, and even though he enjoyed the Mexican soda the most,
he’d probably join French Club because French would be more useful if he
travels to Europe one day.

Nowlin said this year’s fair had 18 booths, an increase over the original 10
booths from a year ago. She’s hopeful the fair only grows in the future.